Pokemon: A Journey Across America
by Titansman56
Summary: This is the story of a boy named Titan who travels across a world where America is covered in Pokemon with 7 of his closest friends! He will take on the 8 different regions and their gyms and then the National Tournament if he can make it! Does Titan have what it takes to go all the way? or will he just be another face?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Professor and the Lab

Titan was a young 17 year old boy who lived a normal life in a small city called Clarksville in the state of Tennessee. Titan was a normal kid who went to high school and had many friends. Titan had just graduated from high school and received his diploma and was getting ready to head to college. It was the middle of the summer and Titan was headed home from a long day of work. Titan always hated the long drive from work to his house because of the traffic and terrible drivers. He finally manages to pull the truck into his parking spot and shut the pickup off and grabbed his work hat and walked inside. The alarm beeped alerting the house of his arrival, while he place the truck key on the counter and proceeded to make his way into his room so that he could rest and watch a little television. But as he passed through the kitchen greeting his mother in the living room which was fully visible through the opening in the wall of the kitchen, he noticed a woman in a white lab coat. The site of this stranger had him confused because he didn't recognize the lady. The stranger stood up and walked over to Titan greeting him, "Hi Titan! My name is Professor Williams. I am sure you have heard of the creatures called Pokemon?" she asked. Titan responded, "yeah of course I have heard of them who hasn't?"

"Well I am here to make you an offer to take a journey across America with a Pokemon of your choice!"

"No way! You have to be kidding me? Of course I will do it."

"Okay great, I need you to come to the Pokemon research facility assigned to the Southeast. Our Facility is Located in New Orleans, Louisiana."

Titan was ecstatic, he knows just about everything there is to know about Pokemon from the different kinds, the types, the advantages, abilities, natures, he knew everything. He watches the yearly tournament every year and always dreams of himself being the tournament winner and taking on the champion of that time.

Titan packed a bag containing medicine, food, clothes, his cell phone, and any other supplies he might need and set off with Professor Williams to Louisiana to meet the head professor and receive his Pokemon to set off on his journey.

"So Titan what did you do in high school?" the professor asked as they drove down the high way leading to New Orleans.

"Well I was in the marching band all year, I played tuba and was pretty good if I may say so myself." he laughed.

The pair kept driving, talking about many different things. He learned that Professor Williams graduated from the University of Florida with a Masters Degree in Pokemon Science. The car was finally pulled into a gate in what seemed like a large swamp. They pulled up to a keypad and the professor typed in a code and the large metal gates swung open allowing the car to proceed. They drove down a long winding road and came to a large white building with multiple columns. They walked up to the front door and walked into a large opened room with a few other kids his age.

"Go ahead and mingle with the other future trainers, you will even be traveling with some of these kids so I suggest you get to know them all." Professor Williams whispered into Titan's ear.

Titan went to ask her another question but looked over his shoulder only to notice that the professor had disappeared. He began walking toward the group of kids going over in his head what to say or how to introduce himself. The room in which they all stood was a grand room with red walls and curtains falling from the room with PokeBalls stitched into them. On both sides of the room were huge stair cases that led upwards to another room that Titan didn't know what was up there. Titan went to take another step forward, when he brought his gaze down from the curtains hanging from the room, there was a girl standing in his face.

"Hi!" the girl exclaimed. "I'm Penny. Penny Radford, what's your name?"

Titan looked at this girl in the face, she was beautiful, and his mouth was open but no words were coming out. He didn't know what to say to the girl standing in front of him.

"I like Pokemon!" he shouted out, immediately smacking himself in the face. Penny was beautiful, she had light skin with beautiful blonde hair draping from her white beanie that sat on her head. Penny wore a white button down shirt with the shoulder's completely missing and she wore green shorts that went just below her kneecaps. Penny gave Titan a confused look, and then laughed at how nervous he was.

"I know! Me too! But what is your name?" she asked again.

"Oh, I'm Titan." He responded; this time with confidence.

"Titan? That's a really cool name I have never heard that name before!"

"Neither have I, what were you named after the football team in Nashville?" asked a strange voice.

Titan searched for where the voice came from and he saw a muscular looking kid walking over to join their conversation. He stared the boy down as he got closer, he was really tan and had muscles all over the place. His head was shaved but there was enough hair there to tell that his hair was red. The boy wore a gray sweater which seemed too small on him and casual blue jeans that fit just perfectly and his green shoes also stood out.

"Garrett Bartley's the name." He announced, holding a hand out to Titan.

Titan took his hand firmly and shook it introducing himself also to Garrett.

"So what's your favorite type?" Garrett asked.

"I like Dragon type Pokemon just because of their ferocity!" Titan answered with passion in his voice.

"Normal types for me, they're so cute!" Penny chimed in.

Two more kids made their way to the small group forming around Titan. A kid of mix races with black corn rows that run down his head with a green Bulbasaur t-shirt, light blue jeans and black shoes walked with another girl. The girl was more heavy set and she had short black hair that ran down to her shoulders and the top was pinned back over her ears. The girl wore a white shirt with khakis and gray shoes. The pair came to a stopping point and introduced themselves.

"What's up guys? I'm Gerald Robinson." The boy with the corn rows announced.

"And I'm Helena Alonso." The girl introduced herself.

The other three also introduced themselves to Helena and Gerald. "So what do you suppose the professors are going to ask us to do?" Gerald asked.

"I think they want us to record all of the Pokemon out there." Garrett said.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. But I know one thing it's going to be awesome and I can't wait for this." Titan exclaimed.

The sound of a microphone cutting on came on overhead, followed by tapping and the words, "testing" repeated three times. "Everyone gather around, it's time to begin." said the voice over the microphone. All the kids in the room made there way to the front where a middle aged man with short brown hair was standing at a podium with a microphone in hand.

"Hello everyone!" the professor exclaimed, "I am so happy to see that you have all made it here safely! Welcome to my Pokemon research center here in New Orleans, I am Professor Smith." He paused and took a drink of water. "Now you may all be wondering why I have assembled all of you here. Well you see every year the president of the United States asks for 18 children from each of the eight regions to go out and compete for the National Pokemon Battle Tournament or they call it the NPBT. This means that there will be 144 rookies competing for a spot in the 64 man tournament. Anyways in order to get into this tournament you a required to travel the country and take on the eight regional gyms. Each region has eight different gyms, but what gym you will compete in is based off of what region you start in. Since you children are in the Southeast your first gym will be in Nashville, Tennessee, and then you will travel to the Northeast and compete in the gym located in Augusta, Maine, after that your third gym is in the North in Des Moines, Iowa. After you defeat those three gyms you will travel immediately south to Dallas, Texas then travel Southwest to Phoenix, Arizona then head to the Northwest area and head to Eugene, Oregon. Now you may have noticed that that is only six gyms right? Well now your headed north to Alaska, where you will then take a boat back south to Hawaii then back to Washington D.C. for the tournament. You young minds are in for a great and fantastic journey, full of fun, new friends, possibly a little love? Eh eh? Anyways, the reasons for why the presidents asks this of each region is unknown, but the winner of this particular years tournament will receive a very special offer that will change his/her life forever. Now it is time to assign you your first Pokemon no-" the professor was interrupted with a burst of cheers.

"I know, I know, you kids are excited so without further ado! Your Pokemon!" as he finished that sentence three carts with six Pokeballs were pushed into the room. Titan eyed the carts down wondering which one he was going to get and what were in them. "Know, for the sake of being fair, you will not know what Pokemon is in the Pokeball, you will pick a random ball and that Pokemon will be your partner." Everyone looked a little nervous about this, because nobody wanted to get stuck with a Pokemon that they weren't compatible with. "Okay we are going to start with..." the professor paused as he pulled a name from a hat. "Ah, Roland Dodd!" Roland stepped forward, he was muscular and very white, he had messy blonde hair and wore a blue checkered jacket and black jeans. Roland walked to the second table and picked the first Pokeball. He sighed nervously and released a small blue penguin Pokemon. "Ah, very nice Roland you selected Piplup, this little one is a water type who evolves into Prinplup who is water/steel and then Empoleon who is also water/steel." Roland picked up his new partner and placed it on his shoulder. Roland walked back to his original spot. The professor reached his hand back into the hat and pulled out a second name. "Gerald Robinson is the next name." the professor called. Gerald walked up to the carts and pulled a Pokeball and released a small blue Pokemon with a fin on its head and tail with orange coming from its cheeks. "Mudkip, the water typeas who evolves into Marshtomp and then Swampert both water/ground types. Mudkip is great against electric type Pokemon!"

"Awesome! My own Pokemon! Hi Mudkip." Mudkip looked up at its new trainer with excitement and followed its trainer over to his place by Titan. "The next name is... Hope Dickson." A dark skin girl let out a high pitched eep, obviously excited for her first Pokemon. Hope was very skinny and had long blonde and wavy hair and wore a pink collared shirt with a purple skirt. Hope picked her Pokemon and released an orange pig. "Tepig is a fire type who evolves into Pignite and Emboar the fire/fighting type." Hope returned Tepig to her Pokeball and walked back to her spot. The professor grabbed another name, "Marie Welch!" Marie walked up to the cart, she had long orange hair that went down to her lower back, she wore a pink dress in red heels. The pokemon that came out was a green lizard Pokemon that stood on two feet. "Snivy! That's a fiesty Pokemon it evolves into Servine and Serperior both grass types." the professor said.

"Hi little Snivy! Do you want to go on a journey with me?" Marie asked Snivy.

Snivy didn't seem interested as it just turned it's back on her. Marie sighed and returned Snivy and walked back to the crowd to watch the rest. "Sri Otto, you're up!" A tan boy with long brown hair stepped forward, he showed off his black leather jacket and jeans with chains coming off them. He walked up grabbed a ball and let out an orange chick Pokemon and immediately returned it to it's ball and walked back. "Oh um. That's Torchic the fire type who evolves into Combusken and Bl-" "Whatever." Sri cut off the professor. Many kids gave off looks of dislike not appreciating how brutal he was. "Ok then the next student is Titan!" Excitement flooded over Titan and he almost didn't step up. Titan walked to the carts pondering the different possible Pokemon and which one to choose. Titan closed his eyes and picked up a random Pokemon he kept his eyes closed as he released his new partner and hopefully his new best friend. He opened his eyes to an orange monkey staring up at him with excitement gleaming in its eyes. Titan formed and instant connection with this little monkey. "Chimchar! The fire type that becomes Monferno and Infernape both fire/fighting types." Chimchar climbed onto Titans shoulder and waited with him for the rest of the trainers to get their Pokemon.

"Helena Alonso come get a Pokemon!" the professor called out. Helena walked up to the tables with a hand on her chin, pondering the selection she was about to make. She reached her hand out and grabbed a Pokeball and let out a green turtle like Pokemon that had a twig coming out of its head and a brown shell. "Turtwig the grass type, it evolves into Grotle and Torterra both grass/ground types." the professor made the usual announcement. Turtwig walked over to Helena who took her spot next to Penny. "Kayla Mosley!" the name called out and a girl with red hair and a white fluffy shirt with gray pants walked up and released a green Pokemon with a plant bulb on its back. "Bulbasaur is a grass type and it evolves into Ivysaur and Venusaur both are grass/poison types." Bulbasaur and Kayla walked back to their place and where replaced by Garrett who finally had his name called. Garrett picked a Pokemon with a long pointed snout and red dots on it's back. "Cyndaquil! One of my personal favorites it evolves into Quilava and Typhlosion." Garrett picked up Cyndaquil and held it in his arms and walked back to his group with Titan and Gerald. "Jaymie Smith." a girl with long red hair and green eyes wore a pink shirt unbuttoned with a white shirt underneath. Jaymie also wore white pants and black shoes and she walked forward and picked her new partner and released a blue pokemon with sharp teeth. "What is this Pokemon?" she asked. "Thats a Totodile, it evolves into Croconaw and then Feraligatr. Totodile is a water type Pokemon, by the way."

The Pokemon selection continued on with all the trainers getting their new Pokemon. Rosa South a bigger girl with a pink tanktop and green shorts got the Pokemon Squirtle, a blue turtle that stands on two legs with a brown shell. After Rosa, Austin Law, a boy with parted blonde hair and a brown sweater, got Oshawott, the otter that uses a scalchop as a weapon. Joss Hawk was next, Joss was big and dark with brown hair and a blue jacket. Joss selected the Pokemon Treecko, the grass gecko type that has a big green tail. Andrew Powell, a tall, white boy with thick brown hair and incredibly bushy eyebrows, selected a fox looking Pokemon called Fennekin. Kristal Yanez, a skinny black girl with beaded hair in a white tank top, randomly chose Charmander, the orange lizard with a fire at the end of it's tail. When it was finally Penny's turn she selected a blue frog like Pokemon called Froakie. Bruce Walden, the next kid had blonde hair that was pointed way off to the side an obvious result of too much hair jell. Bruce had an orange long vest and a green shirt underneath and blue sweatpants. Bruce picked up Chikorita a grass type on all fours that has a large leaf protruding from it's head. The last pokemon picked was the grass starter from the Kalos region, Chespin. Chespin was selected by Sharon Cooper a short blonde headed girl who was about as smart as a box of rocks.

"Okay then now that you all have your Pokemon, I have decided to set up a little tournament in the back yard! You will all compete in the tournament as a little bit of practice! And not only will the winner get bragging rights, but we also have a mystery egg that will join the winner on they're travel! Now if you will all follow me to the backyard."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Eggsiting Tournament

The group followed Professor Smith out to the backyard. They passed through a huge hallway and many different doors. The backyard is a large area with gardens surrounding the area, in the middle is a huge dirt battlefield with white paint outlining the field and an area for the trainers to command their Pokemon. At the end of the field is a large LCD screen hoisted in the air by two poles. "Okay, I have thrown together a bracket that we will follow the battle by. Now, if you look at the screen up their it will show the bracket and whose going to battle who." Everyone shifted their focus to the screen and all of their faces appeared on to the screen. "Alrighty then, battle one will be between Marie and Jaymie! Battle two is between Garrett and Joss. Battle three is between Kristal and Bruce. Battle four will be between Hope and Titan. Now on the other side battle five is against Sri and Kayla. Battle six will be Penny and Helena. Battle seven is against Gerald and Austin. And the last battle is Roland and Rosa! Oh and by random order Andrew and Sharon will sit out of this battle." the professor announced to the group. Everyone scanned each other trying to find their opponent and remember what type of Pokemon they have. "Okay let's have the first battle started! Marie and Jaymie please take your places on the field.

Marie walked toward her side of the field and Jaymie to the other.

"Alright are you ready Jaymie?" Marie asked.

"Of course! I'm gonna win that egg!" Jaymie answered.

A man walked to the center edge with two flags and announced the rules of the battle.

"Are you ready?" he pointed to Marie. Marie nodded.

"Are you ready?" he pointed to Jaymie.

"Let's go!" she answered

"Begin!" he said

"Let's go Totodile!" Jaymie yelled throwing her Pokeball into the air releasing the blue alligator.

"C'mon Snivy!" Marie said letting out her Pokemon.

Snivy and Totodile stared each other down waiting for commands.

"Totodile use Rage!" Jaymie commanded as Totodile began to glow red. After the shade of red finally set it launched itself at Snivy, biting down inflicting damage.

"Get it off! Use Vine Whip!" Marie called out. Snivy who was in a lot of pain began lashing at Totodile with vines coming out of it's neck. The attack sent Totodile flying back, skidding a little on the way. Totodile, who was obviously injured due to type disadvantage.

"Totodile use Water Gun!"

"Water Gun's not going to hurt Snivy"

"I wasn't looking for it to. Tackle!"

Totodile released a spray of water through its mouth soaking Snivy, but all of a sudden a flying Totodile came busting through the water, slamming into Snivy, sending it crashing into Marie.

"Snivy is unable to battle. Totodile wins the match!" The announcer says raising his hand toward Jaymie. The next battle was between Garrett and Joss. During the battle Garrett sent out his Cyndaquil and Joss sent out Treeko. Cyndaquil started off by using Ember and shooting sparks out at Treecko. Only a few of the sparks hit Treecko, and it jumped into the air and came down using Pound on Cyndaquil hitting it directly in the head. Treecko went back to hit Cyndaquil again but was blasted point blank with another Ember attack. The attack hit Treecko dead on and knocked him out.

The next battle took place between Kristal's Charmander and Bruce's Chikorita. The battle began with missed Vine Whip that Charmander jumped over and countered it with a Tackle attack. The hit landed directly on Chikorita and sent it skidding backwards. Chikorita recovered from the attack and followed up with it's own Tackle attack which hit Charmander in the chest, but while Chikorita was plowing into Charmander, it released a small Ember attack directly to Chikorita. The Ember attack left Chikorita dazed and in pain, and was followed by a direct Tackle attack, finishing off Chikorita in that final blow leaving Kristal and Charmander the victor of that battle.

Titan couldn't help but feel nervous because he was battling for the first time and Hope's Tepig looked pretty strong. But of course his Chimchar was going to defeat Tepig and win him that egg. Titan proceeded to take his place at the other end of the field opposite of Hope. Titan picked Chimchar off of his shoulder and held it in his hand looking in it's eye.

"Okay, Chimchar this is our first fight and no matter the outcome I will still be proud of you. Now go out there and do your best job I know we will win!" Titan finished his pep talk and placed Chimchar on the ground. Chimchar looked back up at him and let out a battle cry of sheer determination. At that point, Titan realized that he had a good partner who was going to help him become the best trainer and get them to that National Tournament.

"Are you ready Titan?"

"Ready!" he responded to the referee.

After the referee announced the start of the battle, a flood of ideas on how to begin entered his mind, and he couldn't decide how to start, but before he could announce what to do Chimchar had already taken a direct Tackle right to the chest.

"Chimchar get up! Use Scratch!"

Chimchar regained conciseness and lunged at Tepig and hit it directly in the head with claws flarred. Tepig streaked back in pain which opened up another opportunity for another strike. Chimchar made another lunge at Tepig hitting it again. Tepig was in pain and close to out. Chimchar jumped into the air and let out a flash of Ember hitting Tepig directly, knocking it out instantly.

"Yeah! Chimchar we did it!" Titan exclaimed as the announcer declared his victory. Titan went back to his original spot next to his friends to watch the remaining battles until he got to Kristal in the next round.

Sri's Torchic and Kayla's Bulbasaur kicked off the next battle in the tournament. Sri won the battle with ease by utilizing his type advantage and constant use of Ember and dodging, Bulbasaur didn't even get a chance to attack before it was knocked out. Two of Titan's good friends squared off in the next match Penny and her Froakie fought Helena and her Turtwig. Froakie started it off by using a tackle attack which managed to connect and caught Turtwig off guard. However, the type matchup proved too much for Penny and Froakie and allowed Helena and Turtwig to take that match.

Austin and his Oshawott took on Gerald and his Mudkip in the next battle. This battle was a water on water type battle which would make it hard for both. Oshawott used Tackle at the same time that Mudkip used Tackle both the Pokemon held the attack for a bit until surprisingly Mudkip fell over knocked out. The battle ended so quickly and unexpectedly that nobody understood why Mudkip got knocked out so easy. Was Gerald's Mudkip just that week that it can't stand in a battle? Nobody knew what had happened.

Roland and Rosa were the final battle's of the round. The battle was Piplup between Squirtle, it was a long and drawn out battle between the two water types which ended eventually with Piplup beating Squirtle using its Bubble attack.

The group of kids all made their way back to the center of the battlefield to see what would happen next. The professor met them in the middle with a big smile on his face. "Man, that was great! I haven't seen Pokemon battles nearly that good in a long long time! Now, its time to move on to the next round guys! Battle one will be Jaymie vs Garrett! Battle two is Krystal vs Titan! Battle three is Sri vs Helena! And finally battle four will be Austin vs Roland! Is everybody ready for the next round?" The winners cheered while the losers just wanted to leave already. "Well what are we standing around for? Lets get these battles rolling With Jaymie and Garrett!

Jaymie took her place at one end of the field while Garrett took his place at the other end. It was a Johto matchup between Totodile and Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil began the battle with Smokescreen and effectively caught Totodile off guard and left it dazed. Totodile retaliated by firing off multiple water guns, all of them missing due to not being able to see a thing. Cyndaquil launched Tackle right into the cloud and smashed into Totodile with sheer force. Totodile was sent flying backwards into a bush just outside the field. The small blue crocodile came dashing out of the bush, clearly in pain. Totodile begins glowing red smashes into Cyndaquil, repeatedly biting and slashing until Cyndaquil finally passed out. Totodile managed to be Cyndaquil without hitting it with a single Water type move.

Now it was Titan's turn to take on Krystal and her Charmander. Titan took his place at the end of the field and pulled Chimchar off his shoulder. "Chimchar, we won the last battle and I know we can win this one too! Go out there and give it your best and that egg will be ours in no time!" Chimchar gave his trainer a look of utter passion! This Pokemon seems like it will do whatever it can to make it's trainer happy. Titan got a good Pokemon that's for sure!

Titan gave the nod that he was ready for the battle and sent Chimchar into battle.

"Chimcar use Scratch!" Titan commanded as the small monkey lunged forward. Chimchar dashed into the air and came crashing down in a fury of painful scratches.

"Charmander! Use Growl!" Charmander let out a cry that stopped Chimchar in its tracks.

"What the?" Titan exclaimed.

"Ah! Growl it's a move that lowers the other Pokemon's attack power!" The Professor explained.

"Fine then! Chimchar use Taunt." Chimcher placed both it's hands on it's head, then stuck it's tongue out and made a raspberry noice. Charmander got extremely angry and let out a series of Ember attacks. Not a single one of those attacks hit Chimchar because it dodged them all. Charmander was outraged it was letting lose attack after attack. The moment Chimchar was waiting for came when Charmander had worn itself out trying to attack. Chimchar made the move and hit with a powerful scratch attack that put Charmander to sleep.

"Chimchar we did it!" Titan yelled, "We're going to the Semifinals!" Titan got on one knee with his arms spread out wide, embracing Chimchar in a tight hug when it got to him.

Sri easily took down Helena, once again utilizing his strength over Grass types by using his Torchic against her Turtwig. Austin's Oshawott came out on top over Roland and his Piplup by using a lot of clever combinations with his Oshawott's scalchop.

The next two battles were the Semifinals, with battle one being Titan vs Krystal, and then Sri vs Austin. In the first battle Titan had Chimchar keep it's distance by using Chimchar's speed. Chimchar used Leer a lot to lower Totodile's defense allowing for more powerful attacks. Totodile wasn't able to get a hit in because Chimchar was just too fast for him. Chimchar finally managed to get the win over Totodile with a well place Scratch to the back of Totodile's head.

Sri took on Austin and his Oshawott, meaning for the first time Sri was at a disadvantage. However that didn't stop Sri from putting the smack down on Austin and his Oshawott.

The time had come Titan was in the Championship and he wasn't going to let anyone get in his way of victory. "Okay Chimchar, we made it this far and I couldn't be happier in you and your fighting spirit! There is no way we are going to let Sri and Torchic defeat us! We are going to win this tournament and get that egg!"

Titan stood at one end of the field and stared down at Sri as he stared back.

"Are you ready?" The referee asked.

"Yes!" Titan exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah let's just get this started." Sri said.

"Oh.. uh.. okay! Begin!"

"Chimchar use Scratch!" Titan yelled.

"Dodge and use Ember." Sri countered.

Chimchar lunged at Torchic but fell flat to the ground as the small chick jumped out of the way with ease. Chimchar looked around confused as to where the little bird went. All of a sudden a hot pain was in Chimchar's back which made it jump around to find Torchic using Ember on his back.

"Chimchar get out of there! Use Ember!" Titan shouted.

Chimchar jumped away and fired off multiple clouds of Ember, each one hitting it's mark. Torchic hesitated but continued it's onslaught of Ember as well. Each Pokemon kept firing off Ember after Ember trying to see who would fall first.

Titan was running out of ideas fast and he didn't know what to do next to stop the duo.

"Chimchar use Leer!"

Chimchar gave the most evil look ever and directed it straight at Torchic. Torchic then jumped back out of fear and ran backwards a little bit.

"No! What are you doing? Don't run! Attack!" Sri shouted.

Chimchar jumped high in the air and landed right on Torchic and pinned it to the ground. Chimchar unleased a mass amount of scratches and finally one more blast of Ember finished the battle.

"Yeah! Chimchar we did it! We won!" Titan yelled for all to hear. Titan met Chimchar in the middle of the field and held it by it's hands and spun it in a circle.

"Congratulations to Titan and his Chimchar for winning the tournament! That was a fantastic battle and it really brought me back to all those years ago where I too was a trainer and traveled across the world! And now I know what you really want! Here! Take this egg it is yours." The professor said as he handed over the egg to Titan. The egg was in a case with gold bindings on the top and bottom and the center was made of glass so that the egg could be seen.

"Yeah! We got the egg! Look Chimchar it's our new partner! I wonder what it is?"

Chimchar jumped up and down out of excitement and then picked up the egg and started sniffing it. Titan took the egg back from Chimchar and began to place it in his bag.


	3. Chapter 3

The Journey Begins

After the tournament the professors guided the young trainers to the dining hall where a grand feast was prepared for them before they start their journeys the next morning. Titan decided to sit towards the middle next to Penny and Garrett.

He secretly hoped that Penny was impressed by the way he battled. The way that he connected with Chimchar in those first few battles felt natural, like he has been doing it all his life. Images from the battle with Sri began to play back and forth in his head. Sri was so harsh to Torchic when he started to lose, but why? The idea of being so negative to one's partner sickened Titan and he promised that he would never act the same way that Sri did towards Torchic.

"So Penny. Were you impressed by my battle style? Me and Cyndaquil did pretty good!" Garrett said to Penny who was sitting in between Garrett and Titan.

As soon as he heard this, Titan choked on the food he was starting to could Garrett ask her that? He lost in the second round and Jaymie didn't even use a water type attack either. Everyone stopped their conversations and stared at him as he collected a breath of air.

"Well that was an intense tournament and I want to express how proud I am of all of you! That was an impressive performance by all of you." the professor said as he placed his dirty napkin on his plate. "I suggest you all go to bed early tomorrow is a big day and you'll need plenty of sleep." The professor stood up from his chair and gave all of the kids a bow before turning around and walking away down the hallway. Soon after all the kids began to get up and retreat to their rooms.

"Well I'm gonna hit the sack you guys. All of that intense battling has made me tired! Oh and the food can't forget about the food!" Garrett said as he gave his belly a pat. Titan watched as he walked toward his room before slamming the door shut. He turned to Penny and said, "I'm not tired at all I am too anxious about this journey."

"I know what you mean. I won't be able to get any sleep at all tonight" Penny responded with a look of worry in her eye. "Do you want to walk around for a while and just talk?" She asked Titan.

"Yeah.. that sounds great, it will get my mind off things." He said. They walked out of the dining room and into a hall they haven't seen before. "This place is huge! I hope we don't get lost." Titan said. The hallway came out into the same large room where they received their Pokemon.

"I know! Listen it echos in here!" Penny raised her voice seeming amused by the echo. "It seems a lot bigger in here without all the people in here." She said. "I wonder what is up those stairs anyways."

"I don't know but lets go check it out." Titan responded as they began their way up the stairs. The doorway led to yet another hallway. They wandered down the hallway and came upon two large class windowed doors.

"Look outside! There's a porch and you can look over into the backyard where the field is!" Titan shouted. He opened the door and walked outside with Penny right next to him. He leaned over the railing and just stared out into the battlefield.

"What if that's the best I got? What if I never win again? What if I was just lucky?" Titan said out loud.

"That wasn't luck! You did awesome and you sure know how to battle." Penny said to him.

"Oh... sorry... I guess I was thinking out loud, but thanks. I mean like what if I am a complete failure and I actually don't know what I'm doing? I don't want to let Chimchar down, he went out there and fought his best for me and the last thing I want him to think is that I'm a loser." Titan said, staring at the ground.

Penny placed a hand on his shoulder, "C'mon, I don't see why you're down! You're the only one who didn't lose and I think you will do great things!" She snagged Titan's Pokeball from him and held it in the air.

"Hey! Give that back!" Titan shouted.

"Nope, cause losers shouldn't be able to have Pokemon!" She said playful. Every time Titan made a grab for the Pokeball she would move it away from him so he couldn't get it.

"Stop teasing me!" He complained, "That's my Pokemon!"

"Well let's see what Chimchar has to say!" She said as she pressed the little circle button in the middle of the contraption. The Pokeball grew bigger and she released it into the air, causing it to open and release Titan's Chimchar from it's Pokeball. It sat on the ground and stretched it's arms, making a big yawn.

"Oh, did I wake you Chimchar?" Penny asked. Chimchar just sat there and blinked it's eyes at her a few times. "Chimchar, do you think that Titan is a loser and that he isn't going to succeed and he's only going to fail?" She asked the little Pokemon. Chimchar's eyes shot wide open and climbed up Titan all the way to his head before making his perch there. It was at that moment when the little monkey started shaking his head. The small arms of Chimchar were making a flexing motion then started pointed at Titan.

"Aww. See? He thinks you're strong! He doesn't think you're going to be a loser. Know will you get out of this funk?" Penny said smiling. A tear was starting to form in Titan's eye. He wiped it away before it could fall and then shot up with his fist clenched.

"Alright, I can do it!" Titan said grabbing Chimchar from his head and holding it in his arms. "I can do it for Chimchar!"

"Now we're talking, and don't worry I'll be there every step of the way to cheer you on." Penny said with the smile on her face growing even bigger.

"Thanks a lot for the help, Penny. I would have been a mess without you." Titan said smiling back. The realization of what she just said hit him. "Wait, so does that mean you're going to travel with me? He asked.

"Only if you'll have me!" She responded.

"Of course! I'd love for you to come." Titan said, trying hard to resist hugging her. For the first time, he felt genuinely happy since leaving on this journey. The only thing that has been going on in his mind since leaving was is he going to fail? His parents were both successful at everything they have done, and he was more nervous to fail. Titan was worried that he would let his parents down, that he wouldn't be good enough to live in his father's footsteps.

He heard the story about how his parents met about a hundred times. His dad met his mom when he was on a journey of his own. She was his dad's biggest rival and always challenged him most. One day his mom had upset a heard of Ryhorn when she tried to catch the strongest one there was. The Ryhorn took out her entire team and aimed it's focus on her. Running away was useless as she knew she stood no chance of out running it. She stood there embracing herself for what would happen next. She heard the command Water Pulse being yelled out which made her open her eyes. A ball of water smashes into the Ryhorn. It turned around and fled from further action. His dad and his Wartortle walked up to her, stood her up, and asked if she was alright. The two were inseparable ever since. His mom finished in the top 16 and his dad finished in the top 4 of the country.

Titan found his way back to his room and fell flat on the bed. There was so much going on in his head, he just wished it would all stop so he could sleep. He sat up again and kicked off his shoes. He released Chimchar and watched as it yawn and then curl up on one of the pillows before passing out. He went to turn off the lamp before seeing an envelope with a small strange stone sitting next to it. He opened the envelope and read the letter:

Dear Titan,

Congratulations on winning the tournament, you did an outstanding job and I know you're parent's would be proud. I want you to take this stone that I have placed outside of this envelope. Don't ask what it's for... that is something you will find out in due time. Do not talk about it to any of the other student's either. I felt you were deserving of this stone after the way I saw you battle. Please, keep up the good job and I look forward to watching you and Chimchar grow as a duo.

Professor Smith

Titan had no idea what that was all about but he was too tired to focus and instead was ready for sleep. He laid down next to the sleeping Pokemon and was instantly overcome by slumber.


End file.
